Half the industry by revenue is not coming from half the customers.

That's why it's spreading. So long as a fraction of people get sucked in - your non-participation does not matter.

Those victims "voted with their wallets" and their vote counts for ten times more than yours. This is why outright vitriolic boycotts barely made a dent. This is why it can creep into existing games, including ones you already bought. They've got your money. They want more.

This business model amounts to a scam. Games make you value arbitrary nonsense - that is what makes them games. There is no ethical form of attaching a real-world price tag to anything inside that make-believe. Convincing you that you need some random imaginary geegaw is half these people's job.

No kidding nobody should throw money at that.

But I don't know why anyone defends its continued existence.